1. Technical Field
The present invention relates to hands-free accessories for cellular phones. Embodiments of the invention relate to multipart hands-free accessories.
2. Related Art
Cellular phones have become a familiar convenience. Yet in many situations, handheld use can render a cell phone inconvenient. For example, most States now ban handheld use of a mobile while driving. As another example, many customer-oriented establishments have established policies to refuse service to patrons clearly speaking on a cell phone while interacting with staff. More pragmatically, it is exceedingly difficult to drink coffee and carry a briefcase while also holding a handset to one's ear.
Accordingly, hands-free devices have been developed to enable continued conversation via cell phone despite inconvenient rules or circumstances. These hands-free devices can broadly be categorized as “earpieces” and “speakers”. Both types of device include integral speakers and microphones. The earpieces typically are fastened to a user's ear, while the speakers typically are mounted to a vehicle dashboard, sun visor, or the like.
Nonetheless, known hands free devices present certain difficulties. For example, devices physically connected to phones by wires can have the wires get tangled around seat belts, gear shifters, door handles, chair armrests, and the like. Therefore, wireless hands free devices have been developed. These wireless devices also present certain problems. For example, they require charging separate from the cell phone. The earpiece type devices are not chargeable in use, and are unobtrusive when not in use, therefore, users frequently neglect to keep the earpieces charged. Moreover, switching over from handset to speaker operation presents needless additional steps in communication.